The October summit should have been a staging post to a successful deal. Instead after the PM had briefed the EU27 for 15 minutes, and the other leaders received Michel Barnier's verdict over dinner, the view was "not enough progress", with the November Summit plan shelved "for now".

Only "decisive progress" as determined by Michel Barnier would lead to a deal-making summit, EU27 sources said.

Mr Barnier was said to have argued it would take "several weeks" to work up new proposals for a UK-wide backstop on customs and single market alignment, to replace the rejected Northern Ireland-only backstop. So it is looking like December. But what proposals exactly?

In public the words were meaninglessly positive, but there was no new detail. Still everybody talked about more detail in a few weeks.

Perhaps they were being polite after going too far in Salzburg. Another explanation was that they are playing domestic UK politics rather cleverly.

The PM's recent major domestic political problem was that both some of her Conservative backbench Brexiteers and the DUP were threatening to vote down the Budget, practically the only piece of Parliamentary leverage in a programme consciously stripped of any controversial votes until the big Brexit vote.

That Budget vote is due in a fortnight on 1 November. Perhaps the Government anticipates publishing nothing and making no compromise clear in writing until after that day, the when the moment of maximum leverage for her rebels has passed.

EU leaders are playing along with a PM who cannot afford to antagonise her Cabinet or her Parliament until it is absolutely necessary. So no news, is the news.

But this is tactics. It does not change the fundamental strategy. And the real move today has been the shift of the big EU Governments on preparations of No Deal.

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Video:The prime minister is in Brussels to try to push negotiations on a deal on Brexit to a conclusion.

The French Government published the detail of its Draft law on No Deal, explaining that "from Day one" checks will be reintroduced on UK goods for customs, product safety, and for animal and plant product health standards.

Provision for roads, control posts and parking will be fast-tracked. Chancellor Merkel said the same in the Bundestag. The Dutch will soon reveal a similar law.

The impact on cross Channel trade and traffic could be chaotic and devastating, a point not denied by Michael Gove who said he was looking for alternative routes to European markets via Antwerp and Rotterdam. And in the case of Welsh hill farmers facing massive tariffs, alternative markets to Europe in the Middle East.

The really aggressive move of turning November into a No Deal summit was not pursued. That counts as good news.